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Warning: This article contains distressing details
Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, has testified against the former music mogul and recounted her experience in the 'freak offs'.
Cassie, who is eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fin, told the court on Tuesday (13 May) how the infamous freak offs "became a job" and could last anywhere from 36 to 48 hours. The singer said they occurred around once a week, and required multiple days of recovery due to the drug use during them.
"Freak offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again," Cassie said, who had an 11-year on-and-off relationship with Combs.
Cassie was 19 when she was signed to Combs' Bad Boy record label. At 22, during their first year of the relationship, Combs proposed a 'freak off' including a third participant, a male escort. In court, Cassie said her "stomach churned", and that she was "confused, nervous, but also loved him very much", and wanted to please him.
She described Combs as "charming" but "polarising".
Combs would watch, direct and record the sexual encounters, Cassie shared.
"I just didn’t want to make him upset. I just didn’t want to make him angry and regret telling me about this experience that was so personal," Cassie said.
Cassie said she felt like she couldn't say no to Combs as she worried about potential violence and blackmail content.
"There were blackmail materials to make me feel like if I didn't do it, it would be held over my head in that way or these things would become public," she shared.
When asked how often violence occurred, Cassie responded: "Too frequently."
Combs "would mash me in the head, knock me over, drag me, kick me", she said. "Stomp me in the head if I was down".
The court played the CCTV of Combs beating Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, before prosecutor Emily Johnson asked: "How many times has he thrown you like that before?"
"Too many to count," Cassie responded.
Cassie is set to continue her testimony on Wednesday (14 May) with Combs' defence team cross-examining her.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the allegations, firmly denying any claims of sexual abuse. While his legal team acknowledged that he could be violent, they maintained that all sexual encounters were consensual and did not involve sex trafficking or racketeering.
You should read...
- Everything we know about Diddy's trial starting 5 May
- Celebrities mentioned in the Diddy case jury selection
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